The week has only just begun, but the battle of words is already in full swing. What we have this time is a sort of four-way argument between Rudy, Romney, McCain, and Thompson on who is the true conservative in the race. The battle stems from a comment Romney made, stating that he is the only candidate that represents "the Republican wing of the Republican Party". This, along with the rest of his speech, was an obvious jab at Giuliani. Romney consistently challenges Rudy on his liberal social positions, his illegal immigration positions, and his multiple wives, citing that he(Romney) is a "family man" while Rudy is not.
Yet after Romney's comments about being from "the Republican wing of the Republican Party", another candidate jumped in the mix. Sen. John McCain's campaign responded with the following:
"Mitt Romney actively worked to defeat the Republican candidate trying to reclaim my old congressional seat. Therefore, I'm amazed that Romney would claim to represent the Republican wing of the Republican Party -- because when Romney had a chance to contribute to a New Hampshire Republican, he chose to fund a liberal New Hampshire Democrat instead."
McCain has also been bringing up Romney's change of position on issues such as abortion, essentially branding Romney with the stereotypical "Massachusetts-liberal" label.
And then, of course, we had to get the "new Reagan", Fred Thompson, to join in on the fun. Fred brought up that he "was a conservative Republican in the Senate, (he) is a conservative Republican today, and will be one as President." Fred also stressed that he is the only "true Republican" in the race.
The truth is, there is no ideal, true conservative in the race among the frontrunners. Giuliani is a pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-gay rights, pro-illegal immigration Republican. Romney was a pro-choice Republican until his "revelation" that came just in time for the 2008 election. McCain's most questionable past issue was his recent attempt at immigration reform where he was accused of being "pro-amnesty". Even "the Reagan conservative" Thompson is not as strict of a conservative as many would like. He is divorced, married to a trophy wife, he has stated that he doesn't go to church, and he has lobbied for pro-choice groups.
What strikes me as odd is that you have all these Republican voters who say they aren't happy with their choice of candidates because there is no "true conservative" or "true Republican". But the truth is, there are "true conservatives" and "true Republicans" in the race. Mike Huckabee is extremely conservative and there is nothing questionable about him from his past. Possibly the most conservative candidate is Ron Paul. He is very conservative on all social issues, he is a fiscal conservative, he wants smaller government, AND he embodies the good old Republican ideal of non-interventionism when dealing with foreign countries who don't pose a threat to the U.S. My point: There are real choices for Republican voters so I don't know why they complain when they have everything they want right in front of them.
3 comments :
Far too many people support a particular candidate because of his/her name recognition, their political power base, or their perception as to electability in the next election. If there had been a strong Democratic contender in 1992, we might never have known who Bill Clinton was. I am proud to say that I used the "find your presidential candidate" site and was supporting the candidate that was most attuned to my own political beliefs, John Kucinich.
Here is the link: http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460
...and my "best" candidates according to my beliefs. BTW, Kucinich and I agreed on every issue except the death penalty. BTW, be fair to yourself here. Give YOUR honest opinion instead of how you feel your chosen candidate would or has answered.
1) Dennis Kucinich
2) John Edwards
3) Bill Richardson
4) Barack Obama
5) Hillary Clinton
6) Chris Dodd
7) Mike Gravel
8) Joe Biden
9) Rudy Giuliani
10) Ron Paul
11) Mitt Romney
12) Jim Gilmore
13) Duncan Hunter
14) Mike Huckabee
15) John McCain
16) Sam Brownback
17) Fred Thompson
^listen johnny, I honestly do support Hillary because she most stands for what I believe in. That is my honest opinion.
Interesting website also. I took the test and Edwards and Hillary both came out in a tie for first place. But still, that test is very preliminary and doesn't deal with all the issues. On all the issues, I truly, honestly believe Hillary is the best candidate.
The problem with the so called conservative republican's is that they are make believe conservatives first and then Americans some where down the line. Our men and women in uniform who fought in all of our wars and serve in the military represent all walks of life but they are americans first. That says it all.
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